


Different

by DxTURA



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 15:18:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17082773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DxTURA/pseuds/DxTURA
Summary: Published in 900 Chicon, my University’s literary magazine, is “Different.” This is a newer, fresher rendition of my character, Fiddle, from “Maritime.”Originally Posted 3/24/17.





	Different

Fiddle was a Captain-in-Training, a healer, and a rumored beast tamer of Port Nautica. She preserved the marine life by watching over salt levels, and population levels of the seas her boat-built city resided upon. She would stay up late to patch the wounded, sleep in to the afternoons to regain energy, and then spent the rest of her day next to the sea summarizing her day with a pen and a small journal. If that wasn’t enough she often spent most of her time writing speeches for the bi-monthly community meetings! The gossip made her out to be a hero. A Queen. The savior of the continent.

There was just one problem: In a traveling Port Town where everyone knew magic, her birth defect made her the weakest of them all.

She knew a few parlor tricks here and there, and could easily summon her animal friends from the sea with little to no effort. The problem was that she was to carry her father’s title, and she could barely match her father’s skill outside of diplomacy. Many traders would come to her asking for blessings from her power, but all she really had were syringes full of antidotes and plenty of nautical history that she could really rely on.

To further aid her inferiority, there was the fact that she was _Seakin_. Port Nautica was only noticed due to their ownership of the ports that stock up with goods annually, and even then most _Landkin_ and _Skykin_ saw her kind as the most medicore of them all.

Her father left her with the goal of uniting all three continents, but she was stumped. She wasn’t sure of how to go about the objective.

This is what led her to Old Lady Thompson’s condo that lay not too far off from the beach’s shore. Her braid-filled bun falling apart as she scrambled inside to flop on the nearest pillow.

“You seem stressed out, lassie.” The matron chuckled, “Would you like the tea a little stronger this time?”

“Yes, please!” It was common for the two to have a snack and drink as they talked about affairs together.

Lady Thompson was an aristocrat, once born Skykin and later moved to the shores after learning that the people were much friendlier than the people she had encountered in her lifespan were far too crass for her tastes. She had lived in Port Nautica for ten years (at least, Fiddle _thought_ it was ten), and was introduced to the child through her father after a coincidental crossing of paths in the markets. The three had been close ever since.

Walking back into the lounge with two floral cups, a tulip kettle, and heart-shaped cookies, Lady Thompson set the dishes down and made her way to the nearest sofa cushion. Fiddle snatched a cookie almost immediately, loud crunches being heard. She was stressed.

Thompson didn’t waste her time with questions, either. “I assume something came up today, didn’t it?”

“No. Well—yes. I dunno. I hate parli—poli..”

“Politics.”

“Yeah, that word.” Fiddle was only twelve; she always found words revolving around the government to be much harder to pronounce. “Dad made me go into his room today to talk about it.”

“What did Efi say?” Thompson kept her eyes on the tea, but her ears out for the nautical child.

“He was asking how well neh—negosh, err, _talks_ were going with the other countries,” She swallowed her cookie to make sure that the woman could hear her, “He wanted to know if I made all the Kinsmen friends, yet.”

“Ah, yes, you were required to travel to Gaia’s main hub to meet with the leaders for meetings, weren’t you?” She could hear Fiddle say thank you after slumping back on her chair.

Fiddle flailed her arms around before finally sitting upright. “Yes, but I’m annoyed! Every time I spoke I could’ve _sworn_ the Land leader interrupted me to say that my points were invalid, and kept asking me if I was willing to sell the boathouses we live in.” She groaned, “He kept picking on me and my people – saying that our Nautica was going to crash and burn!”

Thompson and Fiddle took a sip of tea in unison, though Fiddle was the first to put her cup down.

“They keep making it sound like doing all this work is easy for a kid like me. I barely even known how to do my own hair, or put on my Mary Janes!”

Fiddle parroted every single complaint she had about the system to Thompson, and the old lady didn’t mind it. She kept an unreadable face when she found the Rising Captain to say something ignorant, but popped smirks in her direction to let her know that she had the right to express her opinions. She wondered if Efi even _tried_ to teach her the ways of the world before promoting her to the leader. She didn’t dwell on it too much.

It was when Fiddle slumped onto her favorite floor pillow and let out a whine that Thompson started to pay more attention to her. “Isn’t there _anything_ I can do to make my job easier?”

“Well, there _is_ the Kinship Festival.” Thompson was so matter-of-factly about it that Fiddle hopped up from the floor.

“Whatsthatnow?”

“Err, the Kinship Festival? Did Efi not teach you about that?” She had to redact ‘either’ from that sentence; she mustn’t upset the small monarch, now!

“No. What is that? What is that supposed to mean? Is that a new event?”

“Not exactly.” Thompson dug under the couch cushions to pull out a folded pamphlet; she wasted no time in handing it over to the young leader. “If anything, it is something that proves to the world that Port Nautica is still a powerful nation regardless of how much land we own.

Fiddle wasted no time in unfurling the paper, witnessing the different colors, drawings, and events posted everywhere from the top of the page to the bottom. To the left of the page she found the Landkin holding their flag, and to the right she found the Skykin strumming on a lute (their people’s national instrument). If there was anything that made her kind stick out the most, it was the tall woman swaying her hips in rhythm with the music notes painted on the page. Her people were the main attraction, huh?

“It’s an event that happens every three to five years to mark a new era, and Seakin are known for stealing the show and the attention with the magic we’ve attained from Scapius Rock.” Thompson reached to grab a cookie and munch on it.

“And I’m going to guess that it’s coming up this year from what you’re showing me?”

There was a small nod.

Fiddle looked over the paper once more before handing it over. “I don’t think so.”

Thompson sulked, “You asked for a way, you got It, and now you’re complaining about it?”

“It’s not that I think it’s a bad idea, Lady Thompson, but,” She shrugged, “I don’t think I could wow the audience with my presence.”

“You’re the youngest Captain we’ve ever had, you’ve warmed the hearts of the people in this city, you know how to take care of animals and people…” Fiddle watched her count on her fingers as she spoke about it.

“Just by a year, if you’re comparing us,” She took another sip of tea as she continued to speak, “People only like me because my father kept showing me off, and I take care of animals because it’s the only thing I like to do. The people could care less about that.”

“With that attitude, they will.” She handed Fiddle the paper once again. “I still think you should consider it. Besides, I think the idea of the _Captain_ taking over the performance this year would be fantastic! No one’s ever done it before.”

“My magic isn’t that very good, though…” Fiddle whined, “Didn’t my dad tell you that I was born with a defect that affects those powers? I’m a _fraud_ compared to other Seakin.”

Fiddle hated to think about it, truthfully. Children bullied her in school because she was able to pass it off as being weak. Her abilities were often disregarded, and the only thing she felt that she could do right were often brushed off by the boys. The thought of using it outside her daily duties made her squirm while chills hit her spine.

Thompson grew quiet, then spoke once more. “Nonsense. Your magic’s great.”

Fiddle looked up at her, “Wha?”

“There aren’t many Seakin around here that can talk to animals like you can, aren’t there?” Chuckles escaped her, “As a matter of fact, most of them have to rent _Seahorses_ before they can even try to tame the animals in the wild. You have a gift, Fiddle.”

Lady Thompson finally stood up from her seat and walked over to Fiddle, kneeling so she could pat the child’s head. “A gift that shouldn’t be taken advantage of. I really do recommend representing Port Nautica with your talents, and I’ll even help coach you while you’re practicing. What do you say?”

Fiddle took this moment to turn away and let the idea wander around her head. It was true; a lot of Nautica’s traders couldn’t handle the marine life, which was a shame, really. Fiddle had no special training to do so, she was just… _capable_. She could stop the unruly from acting up. She could talk to the Jellyfish who would sometimes swim onto shore just to sting people. _Her best friend was a ten foot tall blue crab for the Sea’s sake_!

It was then that Fiddle nodded to herself, then looked back to Thompson to ask one last thing: “Where do I sign up?”


End file.
